Troy Taylor continues to usher Stanford into the modern era of college football
Despite the transfer portal debuting in 2018, it took until this past season for Stanford to actually bring in a transfer in Oklahoma safety Patrick Fields.
The only kicker in regards to Fields landing at Stanford was that the previous staff didn't attempt to bring him to Stanford, he just happened to be a football player who got into Stanford as a graduate student. While Stanford will never be able to use the portal like USC who went from the Pac-12's basement to contending for a playoff spot, there weren't that many efforts being made.
Prior to Stanford's twelfth and final game against BYU, David Shaw made it known that moving forward the program would be "open to participating in it" when it comes to the transfer portal and NIL collectives. An announcement that may have been a few years too late and also was the epitome of irony, as following Stanford's loss to BYU Shaw stepped down as the head coach following three losing seasons in four years.
The college football world wrote Stanford off as a program that was "once was" and "will never be again" due to the fact that they couldn't use the transfer portal. A belief that was wide spread throughout the country as those who grew up watching Andrew Luck or Christian McCaffrey accepted the premature fate that the academic power out West would forever be irrelevant in college football. That was until Stanford hired Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor, who was fresh off an FCS Playoff appearance.
Again, Stanford cannot use the portal to the point where they are bringing in 15 new players each season, and they may not even be able to bring in 10. It is still one of the most prestigious universities in the world, which won't change, but what has changed since Taylor has taken over is the efforts in the transfer portal. The Cardinal shocked the world when they landed FIU linebacker Gaethan Bernadel, but they didn't stop there.
Taylor and company were able to add some much needed depth across the offensive line after grabbing a pair of Ivy League transfers in Penn's Trevor Mayberry, and Harvard's Alec Bank. The Ivy League has accounted for three of their now five-man transfer class, as the Cardinal also brought in Princeton's All-Ivy running back who was also on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List in Ryan Butler. However, even while being able to bring in transfers there was still a major difference between Stanford and the majority of other programs across the country; they were replacing their quarterback the old fashioned way.
College football has appeared to have gotten to a point where coaches either want top recruits to be their starter right away, or they will look for a player from the transfer portal. Gone are the days where a quarterback sits behind someone for a couple years then earns the job. Obviously there are anomalies like a Bryce Young or CJ Stroud, but there are also names like Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Quinn Ewers, and Caleb Williams who were top recruits who elected to transfer elsewhere to help lead a new program to success. With the implementation of the one-time transfer rule, many players, specifically at the quarterback position, are prone to packing their bags rather than waiting their turn for the guy in front of them to leave.
With all of this player movement going on there were subtle hopes within the Stanford fanbase that in order to replace Tanner McKee who is now a Philadelphia Eagle, the Cardinal would attempt to pluck a portal signal caller. There were glimmers of hope with former five-star and Washington transfer Sam Huard, but he ended up transferring to Cal Poly. Taylor himself saying he was open to bringing in a quarterback from the portal offered another lifeline of hope for those fans wanting to see a new signal caller in the room, but the second window of transfer came and went.
Notable names such as Casey Thompson, Tyler Buchner, and Ben Bryant all found homes, and Cardinal fans, while still grateful of the efforts Taylor had made at other positions, had accepted that their quarterback room will remain as is.
That was until Saturday when news broke that Stanford was bringing in the dynamic dual threat transfer out of Syracuse, Justin Lamson. Now obviously Ari Patu or Ashton Daniels who both saw limited action this past year can win the job, or even incoming four-star Myles Jackson, but Taylor is showcasing that he wants as many options as possible.
Taylor will not only be bringing an revolutionary offensive mind to Palo Alto after years of stagnancy and an offensive scheme that seemed archaic, but he is attempting to go against the grain and rebuild the program in a way that many didn't think was possible. While Lamson didn't see the field at Syracuse he did work his way up to being the backup to Garret Shrader this past spring, but missed the year with a season ending injury.
Landing a dynamic athlete at quarterback provides another option for a Stanford team who right now is tied for having the lowest win total odds in the conference, and also shows that Taylor is bringing a fresh mindset to a program that was stuck in their ways. It may very well still take a couple years for Stanford to truly be competing for anything, but it is Taylor's efforts and willingness to utilize the resources available that show that Stanford will not go extinct like many predicted as the sport moves forward.
